Shades of Grey and Black

Summary: A night of utter mayhem destroys Ffion Cousland's life and she's forced to keep herself together as the world teeters on the brink of destruction. Can she end the madness or will it consume her?

Prologue

The tunnels smelled of death and decay and echoed with
both the ghosts of the dead and snarls of the living. The Dwarf scout, sent on
ahead by his lieutenant commander Gorym, was used to the smell, not the sounds.
He felt his body tense almost beyond tolerance each time he had to round a
corner and the relief when the coast was clear was nearly as debilitating.
There were half a dozen scouts each exploring different routes, following their
commanders' orders. Dwarves who were, in turn, under orders from their lords to
discover why there would be an increase in the presence of Darkspawn on the
surface.

So far, there had been nothing beyond the normal influx,
but this scout knew it had to be something more. His path seemed to stretch on
forever and when he came to the end of the tunnel, he paused. There was an
unholy red light just ahead and he thought he could hear something that sounded
eerily like the marching of thousands of feet.

Tightening his hold on his longbow and shifting his
quiver-full of arrows within easy reach, he inched forward, checking for
Darkspawn in both directions before venturing any further. He found himself in
a cavernous room, the ceiling soared away above him and, by the intense heat,
he knew he had to be close to the lava pools well below Orzammar. Far across
from him, through simmering air, he could make out massive doors and ancient
Dwarven architecture. The sound of marching seemed to spike and he moved again,
looking around at everything in the process.

He slowed as he realized the heat was roiling up from the
chasm yawning before him and he ducked behind a large boulder. Feeling secure
enough, he peeked over the edge and almost fell. His eyes took in the
overwhelming scene about two-thirds of a mile below him and he muttered curses
underneath his breath. He had seen hordes of Darkspawn before but nothing like
this. Short, stubby Genlocks were shoving their way through menacing Hurlocks,
while the Emissaries remained unmovable and hulking Ogres stared down them all,
tossing them about as if they were nothing.

The scout was frozen in dismayed shock until another sound
rose over everything and made him recoil against the boulder, his blood turning
to ice in his veins. A huge, spiked dragon swooped down, the wind from its
wings sending a whirl of hot, death-filled air to ruffle his hair. Its unholy
roar filled the cavern and, with a resounding crash, it landed on a broken
section of bridge that jutted over the chasm and studied those gathered beneath
it. The sinewy neck went back and it arched its head up, letting out another
roar before spreading its monstrous wings and taking flight. The scout remained
frozen, stunned by the magnitude of what he had just seen and the effects of
the dragon's - Archdemon's!! - his head told him, roar.

Suddenly a shout went up from the other side of the chasm
and his mind yelled, Caught! even before his eyes found the Genlock.
Immediately, and stupidly, he took off running, vainly trying to make it back
to the tunnel.

He didn't.

There was a sharp twang and an arrow sank into his
neck, dropping him.

The scout died a mere foot from his safety and with his
last breath went that warning his commander so desperately needed: The Blight
indeed was coming.

Leah Brown:
This was an amazing read! I was hooked from the very first chapter, holding my breadth to see what would happen next. The characters are rich and vibrant, and the world Danielle has created is fascinating. If you love YA, you MUST read this book. Such a smart, brilliant debut novel. I loved it!

ga1984:
I really enjoyed it! Characters were deep and plot was pretty complex. A bit on the violent side but it doesnt detract from the story. Very dark but situations make sense. Ends kinda abruptly and later chapters will need some editing work. I'm assuming there's more in the works?

Guywithgunz:
Vanessa's saga has been an ongoing labor of love for the author and her core gp of fans.The saga as a whole is a must read for fans of Adventure / SciFi stories. The uploads here are in need of a final look by an editor for the spelling and grammatical errors that have crept in somehow into the f...

mrh:
This interesting take on the Harry Potter series fascinated me from line one on. I am in love with this tale and its characters and cannot wait to read the next chapter. I look forward to more soon.When can I expect the next chapter? I am so excited to read it!

dd1226:
I love reading about other countries and I think this story about Cambodia after Polpot creates awareness of the tragedy that happened there and the actions of the U.N. to hold elections. The heroine of the story is easy to relate to, a modern, middleaged woman looking for an adventure, wanting t...

mrh:
I love this story soooo much! This is such an incredible twist on Harry Potter's story. I have loved every word of it. I hope you will write more soon! I want to know what happens next sooo bad! Please write more!

_JosephJacobson_:
I don't understand why this has such low ratings. I really enjoyed it!I think that the whole idea behind the plot had something very special and that was something that I really enjoyed. It was new, unique. I think that some of the writing was a little strange in places but overall it made sense ...

JWalker:
I loved this story from start to finish! It flows at a really nice pace and the story world feels so real. The fight sequences are a treat especially when Isanfyre is training to become a warrior. I found the names really cool and thankfully easy to pronounce. Personally I have always struggled w...

Chris Rolfe:
BOY!!! I sure love what Aer-Ki Jyr did with this series. IMHO he captured the essence of what stargate is all about. Thru out the Stargate stories Aer-Ki wrote Stevens and John Shepard some of the main characters in his stories are pursued by a corrupt I.O.A.. All the while Stevens is changing in...

Hawkebat:
Playing both Kotor I & II and Swtor I found the story line interesting and it held me until chapter 35 Very good story and plot flow until then, very few technical errors. I felt that the main character was a bit under and over powered, as it fought for balance. The last few chapters felt too f...

Sammi Chan:
THIS WAS AMAZING!!! My favorite part of this story was the slow build of Merlin and Arthur's relationship. Their relationship was rlly nicely fleshed out and so good :) The way that you handled the magic reveal was super enjoyable. I rlly liked the switching POVs. Good!Mordred was cute and I'm rl...